The Wharfedale Foundation Magazine

INNOVATION IN YORK PAINTING A FAIRER WORLD

Vol. 1

NEW VISUALITY

2025

EMPATHY & ART

York aspires to be a Sanctuary City, but the reception for refugees requires innovative approaches to truly foster inclusion. Our project used creativity to invite the public into the conversation: If you had to leave your home tonight, what one item could you not leave behind? We gathered these responses to inform the creation of illuminated art installations.

PHASE A: Collection and Digitalisation Refugee Action York members and staff facilitated workshops for 50 learners from Blueberry Academy and 50 members of the public at York Art Gallery.

The discussions centred on the difficult reality of selecting items— from teddy bears and photo albums to phone chargers and pen knives— when facing permanent displacement.

Using AI, we visualised these chosen items as digital files and uploaded them to an accessible, evolving digital magazine.

PHASE B: Dissemination and Artistic Creation We shared our findings with 25 refugee learners enrolled in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses at York College.

We then set up kiosks at York College to gather the same prompt responses from the wider student body, with a moderate projection of reaching 100 learners in total.

These artworks were displayed in traditional gallery settings and projected as illuminations onto the facades of city centre heritage buildings.

The public was invited to complete postcards, designed by our refugee learners, and address them to the City of York Council in preparation for our final 'Feedback' event.

The core question of this final event was: How can we continue to prioritise and embed Empathy in our collective efforts to fully realise our ambition as a Sanctuary City?

Greg McGee Director, New Visuality

AI ART AND NEW TRAILBLAZERS MEASURING SUCCESS

This project brought together young people with disabilities and migrant families to collaboratively create AI-generated art, engaging with the wider public in the process.

We ran fast-paced and enjoyable sessions, with professional artists ensuring the final artwork was of the highest quality.

A key focus was challenging the negative stereotypes faced by both groups. We handed the metaphorical microphone to these cohorts, allowing them to collaboratively tell their stories first, in a powerful and engaging visual format. Only after this initial creative output did members of the public (including tourists, residents, and students) contribute their own visual ideas. We believe this reordering— making the traditionally marginalized groups the initial trailblazers and leaders—was the most exciting and effective way to break down barriers and foster compassion within the audience. The participants who usually had to listen were instead the ones leading the conversation.

PRACTICAL STEPS TO FAIRNESS

In January 2025, clients and staff members of Refugee Action York visited Blueberry Academy to run sessions with learners with disabilities. As well as reimagining the refugee experience, learners covered aspects of Citizenship, and Confidence, creating artwork to reflect new found confidence. We were joined by the Lord Mayor of York and Sheriff of York.

From February to April, Blueberry Academy and Refugee Action York set up in York Art Gallery. Visiting members of the public responded with their own ideas, 'what can YOU not leave behind?', building a groundswell of public empathy.

From April to July, Refugee Action York and Blueberry Academy reconvened. We made 4 visits to York College's ESOL Department whose students set up kiosks, again generating personal responses from members of the public and students, but also directly addressing what we could do to make York a stronger Sanctuary City with less division and fairer representation.

EMPATHY AND CREATIVITY 2025

DISCUSSING EMPATHY WITH ESOL STUDENTS

Bringing our ideas further, we collaborated with York College & University Centre’s “absolutely vital” work with their ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students.Via a series of activities we intersected the art work from Refugee Action York, Blueberry Academy, and members of the public to create a series of collages and projections.

We collaborated on a large scale communal display called 'Empathy' in York city centre Tesco's windows, with more members of the public joining in and depicting items they would take with them on a journey to a country they've never been to. ESOL courses are for people who are, or are intending to become, long-term UK residents with the intention to improve their knowledge of the English language to help secure jobs, gain promotions or generally improve their skills in the workplace.Says former Lord Mayor of York Chris Cullwick, “The work being done at York College is absolutely vital and I’m so pleased to see what’s going on here and that York as a city is as welcoming as it is.

There are so many great examples of that – a recent one being how people have opened their hearts and homes to those in need of help from Ukraine. “On the whole, we are a really welcoming city and I am proud to be the Mayor of the first city in the United Kingdom to declare itself a City of Human Rights.”

A FAIRER WORLD VIA ART

ART IN TESCO

Thank You, The Wharfedale Foundation

HOW NEW VISUALITY HAS BECOME STRONGER We had run similar projects in the past, but technology had developed so exponentially, especially AI, that we then had with this project an opportunity for us to take our place in York as a leading charity working with vulnerable people in York's UNESCO designation as a City of Media Arts.

This strengthened our organisation as a visual arts charity.

This was an ambitious project. We aimed to disseminate the success stories into the international Creative Cities Network, consisting of 116 cities from 54 countries, and included the results from Council feedback discussions into City of York's newly launched Open Data initiative.

Greg McGee Director, New Visuality

THE DIFFERENCE WE HAVE MADE Our team was made up of experienced teachers and professional artists. We monitored engagement and feedback throughout the project, both via Post-It sessions and anecdotally. Our aim was to address how negative stereotypes limited the experiences of refugees and people with disabilities, so that was our primary focus. The attendance reports and monthly feedback forms attested to engagement levels.